Valeri Bennett, LCSW

Valeri Bennett is a licensed clinical social worker with 16 years of experience in North Carolina. She focuses on helping people facing stress, anxiety, depression, and shifts in life that feel overwhelming. Valeri meets clients where they are and emphasizes practical steps over jargon.

She centers sessions on the client’s own goals and strengths. Valeri listens for what matters most and helps people build small, doable habits that reduce worry and improve day-to-day functioning. She uses clear tools and coaching-style support to increase confidence and motivation.

Valeri draws on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help clients change unhelpful thinking and respond differently to difficult emotions. She also uses client-centered and mindfulness-based methods to slow things down and notice what’s working. EMDR is part of her toolkit when past experiences continue to cause distress.

Typical concerns Valeri addresses include relationship friction, family stress, low self-esteem, body image, caregiver strain, addiction issues, and coping with chronic illness. She also works with attachment and adoption-related struggles and with people on the autism spectrum.

Sessions aim to be practical and collaborative. Valeri helps people set realistic goals, try new strategies between sessions, and track progress over time. The emphasis is on simple, sustainable changes that fit into everyday life.

Approaches you can use online

Valeri uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy to help people notice and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviors. CBT breaks problems into manageable parts and offers concrete exercises for worry, low mood, and relationship patterns.

She also works with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to teach skills for accepting difficult feelings while clarifying personal values. ACT focuses on building a meaningful life even when tough emotions are present. Client-centered therapy is also part of her approach, which means sessions are paced by the client and guided by their concerns and strengths.

Finding the right approach is part of the work. Valeri will talk with each person about their goals and try strategies that fit their needs and preferences. She treats the choice of methods as a collaborative decision and adjusts the plan based on what helps most.

Online sessions are offered as video calls, phone sessions, live chat, or text-based messaging to suit different lifestyles. Video is useful for full conversations and exercises that use visual materials. Phone sessions can be easier when bandwidth is limited or when someone prefers not to be on camera. Live chat and messaging support shorter check-ins, quick coaching, and ongoing work between calls, making therapy more flexible for busy days.